National Convention for school counsellors on Aggression In School Children Causes, Prevention And Management.

Aggression in school children has been a major concern for teachers, counsellors, educational authorities, policy makers and the general public for as long as one can remember. The growing incidents of aggression in school children are posing a grave challenge to everybody. Aggression in school children can lead to a disruptive and threatening environment, physical injury and emotional stress, all of which can be obstacles to student development and achievement.

Debates about the causes of aggression are never ending. On one hand, children are seen as born to be made fit for society with schooling. On the other hand, children are seen as born innocent only to be corrupted by social forces. The nature versus nurture controversy still continues. However, there is general consensus that aggression has multiple causes. It is influenced by individual factors such as personality, temperament, neuropsychological functioning, biological predispositions as well as environmental factors such as parenting practices, family socialisation, teacher behaviour and community disadvantages. To neglect any early indicators of aggression without intervention is to place that child and others at great risk of harm. School counsellors and teachers have to play a very crucial role in planning and implementing such interventions. The objective of the National Convention of School Counsellors on Aggression in School Children Causes, Prevention and Management which was organized by ICTRC on 9th September, 2016 at the India International Centre, New Delhi was to equip school counsellors/teacher counsellors with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to deal effectively with this problem.

School counsellor Ms. Enakshi Rai attended the convention, which began with the lighting of the lamp by three dignitaries, Dr. V.S. Ravindran, Dr. R.K. Saraswat and Prof. Shubhro Sen. Dr. V.S. Ravindran is a renowned educational psychologist and trainer, Director General of the ICTRC. Dr. R.K. Saraswat is professor of Guidance and Counselling and has prepared reading material for various courses in Guidance and Counselling run by the NCERT. Prof. Shubhro Sen is Director of School of Extended Education and Professional Development (SEEPD), besides consulting with more than 50 global corporations. He is also an advisor to the Government of India on education and leadership development.

An brief introduction on the Project Paradigm by Project Coordinator Mr. Keshav Singh followed and then Dr. V.S. Ravindran's technical session.

In the first session, he discussed an Indian piece of research on aggression which states that aggression and violence cause more deaths among youth than any other illness. He also differentiated between aggression and violence. Aggression is any behaviour which may cause psychological or physical harm to others, self or property. Aggression is basically a feeling with an intent to harm whereas violence is aggression in action. It qualifies to harm others and has a physical element to it. In this session, he also talked about the prevalence of aggression in schools. According to him, 90% students are not aggressive and only 7-8% of the students have a pathological predisposition for aggression. The students who misbehave in the class may not belong to this 7-8% category. According to him, psychopaths have a strong genetic predisposition to be aggressive and are incapable of thinking of consequences. They completely lack empathy, remorse or guilt. Sociopaths, on the other hand, develop aggressive tendencies because of their interaction with the environment and not because of the genetic make-up. Therefore, it is very important to identify potential psychopaths at an early stage in life. One should watch out for aggression directed towards self and others in terms of cutting wrists, cruelty towards animals, self-mutation or any attempt to suicide. School counsellors should not ignore these symptoms by just simply categorising them under attention-seeking behaviours as they can have grave consequences later in life. He also suggested the use of the term other typically developing children instead of using the word normal.

In the second technical session, after the lunch break, Dr. Ravindran talked about how the child copes with hormonal changes, academic pressure and relationship problems. He mentioned that 12-13% of the students develop some sort of stress when they are dealing with these issues. Thus, emphasising the role of school counsellors in such a scenario. As per a report submitted by ASSOCHAM in 2014, only 3% of 3200 private schools in Delhi NCR have full time counsellors. In 2016, another report mentioned that 92% of the students do not get any professional guidance from schools. This session also dealt with the challenges faced by counsellors in the Indian educational system. Some of them are overlooked by school authorities, given low pay, have roles that are not clearly defined and are burdened with other tasks at school, besides being made to use obsolete tools and techniques for assessment, etc.

In the concluding session, the focus was on discussing strategies for preventing and controlling aggression by engaging such students in physical activity. This helps to release certain neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin that calm them. It is important to note that food habits such as the intake of natural sugar rather than artificial sugar and iron deficiency are linked to aggression.

Apart from this, children should be taught alternate thinking strategies like the cognitive behavioural therapy that it help in correcting misinterpretations, imparting moral training at an early age, and training children in verbal and non-verbal communication i.e. interpreting the gestures of others, teaching feeling words, etc. The whole school if divided into three broad tiers; in the tier I, the focus should be on children having low self-esteem and academic problems. At the level II, the children who are at risk should be dealt with by a counsellor who is professionally trained. In tier III, the emphasis should be on the pathological cases or the ones who cannot be helped. At this stage, the parent should be involved and help from an expert should be sought. If required, medication should also be used.

To sum up, the workshop was a wonderful learning experience.

Ms. Enakshi Rai.